The Olate man pleaded guilty to a high-speed chase at the Kansas City airport.
KANSAS CITY, Missouri. The Olate man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday after February 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Efren Torres-Rodriguez, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of damaging or disrupting an international airport and one count of felony and illegal use of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Western District. Missouri.
A KCPD employee was informed of a suspicious vehicle with a running engine parked near the airport gate on February 1, 2022.
Police arrived at the scene and found Torres-Rodriguez unconscious in the driver’s seat of the car. The officers turned off the car and opened the car door, waking the man up.
Torres-Rodriguez refused the order to get out of the car, started the car and crashed into the gate, destroying it and severely damaging the guardrail. He then drove to an airfield in the city center, according to the Department of Justice.
The officer deflated the stun gun when the man left.
The police then pursued the man, who was speeding up to 100 miles per hour during the chase.
Torres-Rodriguez then drove onto the lawn, where his car broke down.
Police pulled the man out of the car and found a 40-caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine in the car. While the gun and magazine were empty of ammunition, the vehicle contained several rounds of ammunition as well as drug paraphernalia.
Officials found that Torres-Rodriguez had a criminal record for robbery, being a gun felon and possessing firearms with previous violent crimes, prior to being pursued by police.
The Justice Department says Torres-Rodriguez admitted to law enforcement that he was using “meth every other day and smoking marijuana daily since he was 15.”
The chase prevented aircraft from taking off or landing at the airport for approximately 40 minutes, resulting in two delayed departures, one delayed arrival, one aircraft remained airborne for 50 minutes. There was also a cancellation of one flight and one plane that did not take off.
Torres-Rodriguez could receive up to 30 years in federal prison without parole.
